


A Second Chance

by Lanceeselhombre



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Keith (Voltron), Breastfeeding, Character Death, Child Abandonment, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Krolia is very anxious, Minor Character Death, POV Krolia (Voltron), Parental Krolia (Voltron), Pre-Canon, Read the summary plz, Sleep Deprivation, blade of marmora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24808015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanceeselhombre/pseuds/Lanceeselhombre
Summary: While on maternity leave, Krolia goes into labor too early and loses her baby to an infection.Days later, she finds an abandoned kit and takes him home.
Relationships: Keith & Krolia (Voltron)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title and summary might change, so if you want to follow the story I suggest bookmarking or subbing!

It was warm today. Faint, wispy clouds shielded the bustling marketplace from the hot sun and a cool breeze swept through the stalls and crowd. The market was loud as always, filled with the chatter of hundreds of people going about their daily business. Colorful decorations hung from the stalls and swayed in the wind. The scents of various foods, fabrics, and scented goods permeated the large space. It was business as usual for most of the people in the square.

Krolia pulled her cloak tighter around herself, trying to ignore the stares she received from strangers in the street as she walked past. She knew they could smell the scent of a newborn on her, and those that couldn’t had been informed through the whispers of others. It wasn’t uncommon for Galran warriors to come to this planet to labor, but it was uncommon to see them so shortly after the birth of a child. Newborn kits were too fragile to be outside of a nest until they were several phoebs old, long after the scent would fade.

Her birth came too early; her baby struggled to breathe and suckle because of it. She was so tiny for a kit and kits were already small. Her heartbeat shook her body because it was so frail. She never mewled or cried. 

She struggled for three days before she succumbed to an infection. 

Her death crushed the woman. She’d lost comrades, lovers, and even her husband to the war, but nothing compared to the pain of losing a child she hadn’t even gotten to know. 

Krolia couldn’t bring herself to do anything in the few days since then. She was expected to inform the blade of a kit’s death, but she couldn’t bear to speak of her baby’s fate. The only thing she could think to do for the remainder of her maternity leave was to recover from the birth in the nest she’d made for her kit. 

This was the first time she’d left the house since her nesting urge began. In a way, it felt good to be outside again, to stretch her legs and be in the presence of others; but it was dull. She couldn’t hide the reality of what happened from the crowd, and though they stayed away, the pitying looks were obvious. Even the sky seemed to react to her sadness, filling with dense clouds the longer she was out. 

She lifted her head to watch them float by and caught the crisp scent in the air. It would rain soon. 

While she wanted to stay out longer, it would be best to go home. Having not yet recovered from the birth, she could easily get sick if she got chilled by the rain. Everything she came out to get was in her backpack; her tasks for the day were done.

A side street split off from the main walkway just a few feet ahead, and she ducked into it. Despite her sparse knowledge of the town, she knew this street led towards her home. It was near deserted, unlike the noisy bustle of the plaza she had just visited. She felt lonely in the midst of the silence, reminded of how unnaturally quiet her nest was without the sounds of a needy kit. 

It was during that thought that she heard an almost inaudible mewl. She glanced around for another Galra, wondering if she’d heard someone else’s child, only to see no one nearby. 

She sighed and lowered her gaze to the ground. It was just her imagination. 

Her ears subconsciously swiveled in the direction of the imaginary sound regardless, instinctually listening for the baby. Her milk began to let-down as well, though there was no kit to feed. She tried to ignore the despair that welled up in response, but it was so hard when she knew those instincts would go unfulfilled. 

Another mewl reached her ears and her head shot up. She couldn’t have imagined that one. 

She stood still, listening closely, waiting to hear it again. For a tense moment, she heard nothing and fear bloomed in her chest. “Come on, cry again.” She whispered encouragingly, both anxious and hopeful for a response. “Cry again if you’re actually there.” 

Finally, there was another weak mewl. Fear slid like a drop down her back at the sound. That was the cry of a dying kit. 

She quickly followed the sound into a narrow back-alley and began scanning the ground, window sills, trashcans, anywhere for the kit. The fear she felt only grew the longer she searched and found nothing. There baby she was hearing must have been abandoned somewhere in the middle of this alley. And it was about to rain. 

She advanced as quickly as possible, leaving no possible hiding place unturned while listening closely for more cries to guide her. They were few and far between, but they were steadily growing louder. 

Movement in the corner of her eye caused her to look down and she saw a brown lump wiggling in the dirt. She stared at it in confusion for a second before she noticed a tiny face and realized it was the kit.

Relief washed over her as she crouched and gently lifted the baby by its scruff, but it quickly turned to worry as the baby shivered. They were nearly ice cold, having likely already been away from their mother for hours. 

It was dark without any lights in the alleyway and even darker with the sky slowly turning black, giving her very little visibility, so she gently felt along the kit’s body for the things she couldn’t see. They were thin with a flat, empty belly, their eyes and ears still closed. The velvety texture of a fresh umbilical cord stuck to their skin. It was a boy. 

Krolia frowned deeply. He couldn’t have been born more than a few hours ago, yet he was outside all alone. To be abandoned so early, he must be sick or a runt; it was common practice for Galra to give up on such frail babies because they were so hard to rear. 

The rules of the custom stated that they weren’t to be saved, but as she held the little boy in her hands, she thought of her own baby. Her daughter should have been abandoned too by those rules, but she chose to ignore them and give her a chance. But she didn’t know if she was ready to give another kit that chance, knowing that it was likely going to break her heart again.

The kit squirmed in her grasp and cried tiredly, shivering as the wind kicked up. Krolia shielded him with her free hand, rubbing her thumb along his chest comfortingly. As she comforted him, he grew quiet, and her heart sank. He likely wouldn’t make it. 

Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to put him down. In the few short hours he’d been alive, he only knew cold, hunger, and loneliness. Just by holding him, she gave him comfort, and she couldn’t take that away. He deserved to not be alone in his final moments. 

Krolia pulled at the collar of her shirt and carefully lowered the kit between her breasts; it was the warmest place she could put him. The kit could barely hold onto her, so she cupped a hand over his small body to keep him from falling. “Okay, let's get you comfortable.” She whispered. 

She stood and exited the alley, then continued on her way home. Not long after, droplets of water started to soak into her fur, causing her to speed up. Neither of them could afford to get wet. She would run if she could, but it was dangerous to do so only a few days after giving birth. She shouldn’t even be walking around for this long, yet here she was.

By some miracle, she made it to her porch before the rain could soak through her shirt. She fumbled with her keys to open the door and escape the rain, then quickly got inside. She locked the door and turned on the light before she shed her cloak and boots.

The house was small but liveable. It had a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath, which was all she needed. She stepped into the bedroom and put her backpack beside the spacious nest, then turned around and went into the bathroom. The kit needed a rinse to get the dirt off of him. 

Krolia turned the sink tap on and pulled her shirt over her head while it warmed up. She then gently picked the kit up and held him under the water, carefully rinsing away the dirt covering him until she saw purple fur. After his body was done, she wet a washcloth and turned off the water, then wiped his face and head clean. She grabbed another washcloth to pat him dry, then wrapped him in it to protect his damp fur from the air. Through it all, the kit remained worryingly silent.

She went back into the bedroom and laid down in the nest with him, then plugged in her electric blanket and covered him with it. The kit needed to be warm before she could do anything else for him. Thankfully, as he grew warm his cries started up again, but they sounded weak and tired. 

When she finally deemed the baby warm enough, she pulled the blanket back, discarded the washcloth, and gathered the baby in her hand, then turned him around so his legs faced her. The kit squirmed, looking for something to hold onto, so she moved her thumb between his little arms and he grabbed on. She brought him closer to her face to inspect his privates and found that he didn’t have any worms or diseases that she could see, which was lucky considering he’d been in the dirt. Satisfied, she gently stimulated him to eliminate and cleaned up the mess.

“Okay baby,” Krolia said as she laid him down on her breast. “How well can you nurse?” 

The kit’s nose twitched at the scent of milk, sniffing for where it was coming from. He quickly found her nipple, latched on, and began to knead. When he suckled, milk began to dribble out of his mouth, but she didn’t care about that. All that really mattered was that he was strong enough to pull milk. 

Once he settled into the meal his mewls stopped and he was quiet again.

The woman had to admit, she was surprised at how healthy he seemed after how she found him. He was weak as a result of nearly freezing to death, but now that he was warm, he was nursing well. He didn’t seem sick either; he must have just been a runt. Despite that, she didn’t get her hopes up. There were still so many things that could kill him. Even with proper care, he didn’t have a very good chance. 

A few minutes later, the kit pulled away from her nipple. His cheeks, chin, and chest were covered with milk, along with her own fur where he’d been laying. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the mess and lifted the baby up so she could clean him. “You’re a messy little thing.” She hummed as she licked away the sticky liquid. He didn’t squirm or mewl while she worked, most likely already asleep. 

Krolia quickly wiped herself clean, then laid him down on her chest again and covered him with the electric blanket. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, both because she missed having a baby around and because she was worried he would stop breathing if she looked away. It worried her even more to think of what she would do when she inevitably needed to sleep herself. The thought of waking up to a dead kit was terrifying. 

She stole a short glance at the clock for the time. It wasn’t too late yet; she could probably stay up until he needed another feeding. 

If he needed another feeding. 


	2. Chapter 2

Staying up for one feeding quickly turned into staying up the whole night despite Krolia’s attempts to get herself to sleep. It was too nerve wracking for her to close her eyes when she knew the kit might be gone by the time they opened again. She fully expected his death, too afraid to hope that he would live, but if he passed while she slept she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself. She promised to take care of him until the end and she couldn’t bear to break that promise.

To her surprise and relief, the little boy woke up time and time again to cry for food. He eliminated well, ate well, and slept well in a consistent cycle all night long, all while showing no signs of getting worse. It was encouraging to see him doing so well, but Krolia tried to keep her guard up. She couldn’t hope. 

As the sun began to rise in the sky, she grew drowsy and fell asleep a few times, only to jerk awake in a panic to make sure the kit was okay. Of course, he was safe and sound asleep where she’d left him each time, but it didn’t soothe the fear she felt. 

Eventually, she got up and ate breakfast, then did some sparse cleaning to keep herself awake. Her movements were sluggish as she moved about the small house, no doubt a result of her trip outside the day before. She was physically exhausted from walking around town so soon after giving birth and it didn’t help that she hadn’t slept that night, but she just couldn’t let herself sleep. Not yet.

She returned to the nest when she was too tired to continue and looked at the time. It wouldn’t be long before she would have to report to Kolivan. During maternity leave, the leader checked in once per week to keep track of the health of the mother and the baby. She had been dreading this report, knowing that she would have to tell him what happened to her own kit, but she would have to pretend that the boy was hers, now, otherwise she would be forced to abandon him. 

He was bigger than her baby had been and he looked similar enough to her. Kolivan didn’t know the sex or age of her child, as specific details weren’t discussed until they were roughly a week old (the little boy couldn’t be more than a day old, but Kolivan didn’t have to know that.) It would work. 

It also forced her to avoid the reality of her daughter’s death. Bringing up the loss hurt, but she knew she couldn’t heal from it if she didn’t face it. Right now, though, facing it meant sentencing another kit to their death and she didn’t dare be that selfish.

She stopped thinking about it before she could fall back into the painful memories. She tried to relax instead, not wanting to seem distressed during the report. She couldn’t afford to have Kolivan see any suspicious behavior.

Without anything to do to distract herself, Krolia began to unknowingly doze off again. Not too long after, her communicator buzzed loudly, startling her out of her slumber. She quickly felt around for the item until she found it just outside the nest and pressed a button to answer the call. Too tired to hold up the device for very long, she propped it up against a pillow and angled it towards her face.

“Hello.” She greeted tiredly, unable to hide the fact that she was exhausted.

“Hello Krolia. Are you alright?” Kolivan asked in return. 

She sighed and nodded. “I’m exhausted, but alright. I did some cleaning and I may have overdone it.” She said, neglecting to mention her walk into town or her current sleep deprivation. 

The man hummed. “How is the kit?” 

Krolia turned the screen towards the boy so Kolivan could see him. The baby was still sound asleep on her chest, the heated blanket draped over his small figure. “He’s healthy so far. No illnesses or defects.” She said. 

“Excellent. How long do you think you will need to recover before you can return to the base?” 

“I’ll need at least another movement, possibly two.” She said. “Who will be picking me up?”

“We’re sending another nursing female. It should cause the least amount of problems in the absence of the kit’s Sire.” He responded. “If you do not have anything else to report, I’ll leave you to rest and begin making arrangements for your return.” 

“Vrepit sa.”

Krolia ended the call and put the communicator down, then let out a yawn she’d been holding in. She really should rest if she wanted to be healed enough for the trip back to the base in a couple of weeks. Much more of this sleep deprivation wouldn’t do her or the kit any favors.

Just as she settled down to try to sleep again, a hungry mewl came from her chest. She lifted a heavy eyelid to see the kit sniffing her fur, looking for a teat. “Good morning.” She sighed tiredly as she moved the blanket and lifted him into her hand to stimulate him, then put the squirming kit down on her breast so he could nurse.

The little boy quickly latched on and pulled hungrily, milk leaking from the sides of his mouth as he ate. She smiled and shook her head at him fondly. He would figure out how to eat cleanly after a few days. 

When he pulled away, she cleaned him and herself up, then covered him with his blanket again. “Okay baby, why don’t we both take a nap this time?” She yawned. She set a timer on her communicator to wake her up in a few hours, just before the kit should need to be fed again, then got comfortable and tried to fall asleep. 

*****

Krolia jarred awake at the sound of her alarm, disorientated from being woken up during deep sleep. She fumbled with the communicator until she managed to shut the alarm off without opening her eyes, then dropped it somewhere in the nest and rolled over to go back to sleep. A warm object slid off of her chest, which she almost didn’t pay mind to, until she realized it had been her heated blanket. She didn’t sleep with a heated blanket in the summer. 

Panic shot through her veins as she frantically sat up and felt between her breasts for the kit. She was relieved that the little boy was still there; he hadn’t fallen off of her or gotten crushed in her moment of forgetfulness. Even so, she felt the need to check that he was still breathing, so she gathered him in her hand and brought him close to her face. 

His tiny chest expanded noticeably with each breath he took and a small heartbeat pumped quickly against her palm. The kit was sleeping peacefully, undisturbed. 

She sighed in relief. Thank god. 

Immediately after, though, she burst into tears. She had come so close to losing him and it touched a still very raw nerve. 

No matter how much she tried to emotionally distance herself from the kit, she just couldn’t do it. 

The kit whimpered softly and began to squirm in her hold, causing the woman to turn her attention to him. She gently stroked his cheek for a moment, more for herself than for him, then sighed. “I’m sorry darling, you must be getting cold.” She sniffled as she brought the boy to lay on her chest, cupping a hand over his back to help him warm up. 

The baby settled down once he was nestled against her again and went quiet, most likely going back to sleep. She smiled at the sight; at least he was still content and happy. That’s all she needed at the moment, she supposed. As long as he was okay. She could be too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked this! I love feedback and it helps me to get more content out faster.


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